ALBUM REVIEW: Boston Manor – Welcome To The Neighbourhood

Laura Doyle discovers Boston Manor’s new album is fittingly foreboding

By Laura Doyle
on Monday, September 3rd, 2018

Pure Noise Records

Released: 07.09.18

Blackpool’s a nice holiday destination, isn’t it? Apart from being the drug capital of the UK and the 40% unemployment rate… Fittingly, Boston Manor’s latest release, Welcome To The Neighbourhood, does a pretty good job of capturing the destitute feel of their hometown.

Anger fuels Funeral Party, a delightfully robust punk rock song dabbling in the economic issues they see, and there’s nothing shiny or happy about this portrayal of current affairs: album closer The Day I Ruined Your Life is as depressing as its predecessors, but musically it’s the complete opposite of those brash, raucous tracks. It’s been a tricky couple of years for Blackpool, and indeed the rest of the UK, so Welcome to the Neighbourhood is quite suitably foreboding.